What is double opt in or confirmed opt in? How do I setup double opt in or confirmed opt in?
Double opt in (also known as confirmed opt in or COI) is a method for gaining permission to email contacts where rather than immediately adding their email address to your lists, a verification email is sent to the contacts. The contacts must click a link in that verification email to confirm they are the owner of the email address and that they want to opt in to receive email communications from you. Only upon clicking that link is the email address is considered confirmed.
In contrast, single opt in is a method for gaining permission to email contacts where you take it upon yourself to verify that email address has consented to receive email communications (e.g. via a web or other sign up form, through ongoing or previous relationships or transactions, etc.). Using a survey to capture email addresses without sending the confirmation email described above would also be considered a single opt in, as the contact is not required to verify their email address.
Determining whether to use single opt in or double opt in will depend on your business processes as well as any legal regulations that apply to your email marketing practices. Although single opt in lists can provide faster rates of list growth, the list quality may not be as strong (e.g. higher numbers of bounces and spam reports). Double opt in lists are cleaner, with fewer bounces and spam reports, and often represent a more engaged group of contacts leading to higher view and click rates. There is however a known risk that some contacts, sometimes up to 30% or more, will not complete the verification process.
Our system offers two options to setup double opt in:
- Sign Up Form - This feature is a part of the Preference Center functionality and offers a simple method for individual users to capture new contacts.
- Confirm Email Address Survey Question - This feature is a part of the Surveys functionality and offers greater flexibility and customization as well as broader deployment.